Bear cave

The cavern with important relics is located 30 minutes from the Restaurant Vetta on Italian territory. The path leading to it is convenient and well signposted.

The cave is open daily from 1st June to the end of September from 10.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.. For groups with reservation also in May.

The ticket can be purchased at the ticket counter in Capolago, the Buffet of Bellavista, the Cafeteria on the Monte Generoso or directly at the entrance of the cave.

Admission (guided tour):

Full price: CHF 10.00
Over 60: CHF 8.00
Children from 6 to 16 years: CHF 8.00
Children younger than 6 years: CHF 4.00

Groups (more than 10 people):
Adults: CHF 8.00

School:
Children from 6 to 16 years: CHF 5.00
Children + 16 years: CHF 8.00

The Grotto was discovered in 1988 by the Ticinese spelaeologists Francesco Bianchi-Demicheli and Sergio Vorpe.
The Bear’s Grotto, where an important repository of remains of over 500 cave bears (ursus spelaeus) were found, is situated on the eastern side of Monte Generoso. These lived and became extinct on Monte Generoso between 18-20,000 years ago. The cave has been prepared in a way that enables everyone, not only paleontologists, to visit.
The preparation work for this adventure was made possible by the precious and qualified support of Milan University, in particular the Department of Earth Sciences and the Cantonal Museum of Natural History.
The excavations in the Grotto have not yet finished, and will continue due to the ever more important and richer finds. It is therefore possible for the visitor to observe the minute and delicate work of the researchers from the University of Milan.

Neanderthal Man

During the excavations in the cavern (Bear’s Grotto), a number of relics have come to light that can be attributed to Neanderthal Man, who lived in the period between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago. Four items were found, the first two were found in 1998 and the rest in 2002, discovered in the “Sala Terminale” (the End Room).
The four finds are fragments of flint (red and brownish reddish jasper), used by the neandertals as tools for scraping skins and bones. The objects found, belonging to Neanderthal Man, were probably collected in the gorges of the Breggia torrent or at other sites in the region where this stone is present. From a number of the grotto’s  characteristics, it is possible to discern that it was used by Neanderthal hunters in the terpleniglacial period.